Ride on, ride on 

As we approach Palm Sunday (or ‘THE DONKEY ARRIVES!’ as it is emphatically listed in my diary), we know we are entering into a week which will be far from ordinary.

The world will carry on as normal, but we will not. Not only do we look forward to the appearance of Monty the donkey as we gather on the steps of the Clarendon Building with palms and shouts of ‘Hosanna’, much to the intrigue of those who pass by, but we begin our procession into Church to enter a solemn week ahead; symbolic of Christ entering into Jerusalem to face his arrest, trial, and death.

Despite knowing we are about to walk a journey which is far from comfortable, still we do so, in faithfulness to Jesus’ own resolution to face what lay ahead for him.

We ride on with Christ, not because there is any virtue in pain, but because we know that there is salvation to be found as we follow the King who chose the humility of a donkey, and the death of a criminal, instead of avoiding the world’s suffering.

This is no ordinary week. And if we let ourselves be shaped by its story, perhaps we will encounter again the extra-ordinary Love which waits to greet us this week: around the table, in the garden, on the cross, and rising from the grave.